AG149
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Wheel of Frontier
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Wheel of Frontier (Japanese: バトルアリーナ! 格闘対決！！ Battle Arena! Fighting Showdown!!) is the 149th episode of the Advanced Generation series, and the 423rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 27, 2005 and in the United States on September 16, 2006.
Synopsis
Ash is in a Pokémon Center getting psyched for his Battle Arena match when Scott calls to him from across the room. They talk for a few seconds, and Ash vows to get his next Frontier Symbol.
At the Battle Arena, dozens of men are being trained in karate-style moves by Greta. Team Rocket is also being trained with the group. They are fatigued from doing so many arm thrusts. An assistant yells at them because they stopped moving. For the next exercise, the group has to crouch with cups balanced on their heads and shoulders. Team Rocket fall over and break their cups.
Meanwhile, Scott explains to Ash group about Greta and two of her Pokémon, Medicham and Hariyama. He points out the similarity to two Fighting-type Gym Leaders, Brawly and Chuck. The group exits the Pokémon Center, but Ash stops and contemplates Greta's Pokémon. Suddenly, he runs back into the Pokémon Center without any explanation.
Later, the group reaches the Battle Arena, and Ash yells "Hello." This doesn't work, so Scott goes up and shouts "We wish to have a battle". The giant doors open, and Greta and the people she was training (minus Team Rocket) emerge. Ash introduces himself and he and Greta get excited about the challenge. Suddenly, a giant roulette emerges from the ground that is meant to determine how many Pokémon will take part in the battle. Ash pulls the roulette lever, and the spinner lands on two.
Meanwhile, Jessie and Meowth look down at the group while James cleans the floor. Mime Jr. jumps over and imitates him, rubbing the floor. James tells Mime Jr. how cute it is.
A gong rings, and Ash and Greta prepare for their battle. The training group sits along the sidelines of the field, watching. Team Rocket pokes up behind them. Greta sends out Medicham and Hariyama, and Ash sends out Grovyle and Snorlax, who he retrieved from Professor Oak. May and Max are surprised to see that Ash has a Snorlax. Scott observes that Ash picked odd types of Pokémon to use against Fighting-types.
Grovyle and Hariyama fight first. Grovyle sends out Bullet Seed, and Hariyama blocks. Hariyama charges at Grovyle, but Grovyle jumps into the air and shoots another Bullet Seed. Hariyama dodges and grabs Grovyle's leg to throw it on the ground before shoving it through the air, making it land on its back. Ash tells Grovyle to use Quick Attack and Hariyama goes to dodge, and Grovyle uses Leaf Blade twice. The first time knocks Hariyama back, but then Hariyama responds with a Focus Punch that sends Grovyle flying back before it can attack. It hits the ceiling, falls to the ground, and faints. Brock and Scott remark that even Grovyle's speed wasn't enough to defeat the strong Hariyama.
Before Hariyama and Snorlax fight, everyone discusses Snorlax's odds of winning against a Fighting-type. Hariyama begins fighting but Snorlax Hardens itself and is eventually pushed back to the end of the field, apparently uninjured. Hariyama attacks again, but Snorlax dodges and hits Hariyama with a Headbutt, which pushes Hariyama back. Hariyama uses Focus Punch again, but Snorlax uses Harden again; however, it fails, and Snorlax falls back on its stomach. Greta orders Hariyama to use another Focus Punch, but Snorlax jumps up to dodge, and Hariyama's fist hits the ground, injuring it. Ash tells Snorlax to use Ice Punch, which freezes Hariyama, defeating it.
Medicham jumps into play and shows off. Meanwhile, Meowth has a plan...
Greta tells Medicham to use Focus Punch, and Snorlax Hardens itself again, but it doesn't work so well and it falls back after the punch and a kick. Greta orders another Focus Punch, and Ash orders Hyper Beam. It misses, and Snorlax, hit, flies into the crowd of trainees. Team Rocket's disguises fall off, and they perform their motto. They jump to grab Ash's Pikachu, but it Thunderbolts them into the sky.
The match continues, and Ash tells Snorlax to use Ice Punch while Medicham is told to do the same thing. Snorlax is hit and freezes, making it immobile. Ash suddenly remembers something and tells Snorlax to use Rest. It falls asleep, and Greta orders more Focus Punches to reach it through the ice. The ice breaks away, and just as Medicham is about to strike, Snorlax wakes up and dodges. Ash orders another Hyper Beam, which Medicham dodges. It uses Ice Punch again and hits. Another Hyper Beam is ordered, but Snorlax can't do it. Greta orders more Focus Punches, which hit Snorlax repeatedly. However, it charges its Hyper Beam, and just as Medicham is about to finish it off, Ash tells Snorlax to direct the Hyper Beam to the ground blasting it up near the ceiling, where it rocks down to crush Medicham with Body Slam. Medicham faints. Ash is declared the winner, and Ash and Snorlax hug excitedly.
Outside the Battle Arena, Greta awards Ash the Guts Symbol. Scott tells Ash that the next facility is the Battle Dome. The group walks off toward it...
Major events
- Ash gets his Snorlax from Professor Oak.
- Ash's Snorlax is revealed to have learned Harden and Rest.
- Ash battles Arena Tycoon Greta, the second Frontier Brain and wins the Guts Symbol.
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Humans
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Mime Jr. (James's)
- Snorlax (Ash's)
- Grovyle (Ash's)
- Hariyama (Greta's)
- Medicham (Greta's)
Trivia
- The opening animation is updated to include Brock's Marshtomp. Greta, however, remains a silhouette.
- Battle Frontier was played during Greta and Ash's battle in the Japanese version.
- Normally, Ash says the episode title. In this episode, Ash, May, Max, and Brock all say the title together. This is because they were trying to imitate the opening of Wheel of Fortune which includes the entire crowd saying "Wheel of Fortune".
- This is the first time in the anime that a Pokémon had to recharge after using Hyper Beam (like in the games).
- This episode was originally believed to be titled "Wheel of... Fortune". This turned out to be incorrect, though the actual dub title remains a play on the popular game show Wheel of Fortune.
- Greta actually knows who Team Rocket are and what they do.
- In respect to dojo tradition, no footwear is permitted in the Battle Arena. As a result, everyone is barefoot throughout the entire match, including Ash and Greta.
- Contrary to the video games, where Pokémon can only learn up to 4 different attacks, Snorlax manages to use 6 different attacks throughout the episode, namely Protect, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Rest, Hyper Beam and Body Slam.
Errors
- During Ash's battle with Greta, Greta told her Medicham to "use dodge", as if it was an attack learned by it. In reality, dodge is a battle tactic used in the anime to avoid attacks.
- Although Ash tells Snorlax to use Protect, the move shown is Harden. Protect normally creates a green barrier like shown in video games and later Time Warp Heals All Wounds by Tucker's Swampert, and Harden is a small flash of light just before they get hit.
- In a lot of the scenes during Ash's battle with Greta, Snorlax's feet were the same color as its body.
- Two mispronunciations were made as Scott pronounced Cianwood as Cyanwood, and Ash said Medikam instead of Medicham.
- Inside the Battle Arena, everyone is barefoot. However, May shown to wear socks in one frame of animation when she should be bare footed.
Dub edits
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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| Mandarin Chinese | 對戰競技場！格鬥對決！！ | |
 Dutch
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Het Zonnewiel | |
 Finnish
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Onnenpyörä | |
 European French
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Deuxième Embleme! | |
 German
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Kleider machen KEINE Leute | |
 Italian
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La ruota del Parco | |
| Portuguese |  Brazil
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Roda da Fronteira |
 Portugal
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O Símbolo da Coragem | |
| Spanish |  Latin America
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¡La rueda de la Frontera! |
 Spain
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La rueda de la fortuna | |
 Swedish
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Det andra slaget | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
